Improvement in the manufacture of shoe-shanks



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

S. MOORE.

MANUFACTURE OF SHOE SEANKS.

No. 111,863. Patented Feb. 14. 1871.

2 Sheets'-Sheet 2 .S.-MOORB.

v MANUFACTURE OF SHOE SHANKS.

No. 111,863. Patented Feb. 14, 1871.

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STEPHEN MOORE-OF SUDBURY, MASSACHUSETTgASSlGNOR TO HIMSELF AND HOMER ROGERS, OF' SAME PLACE.

Letters Patent No.111,863, dated February, 14, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHOE-SHARKS.

The Schedule referred to in these'Letters' Patent and making part of the same.

' To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, STEPHEN Moons, of Sudbnry,

.in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in the Manufacture oi Molded Shoe-Shanks; and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drmving which accompanies and forms part of this specification; is a description ofmy invention snliioient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.-

United States Letters Patent No. 102,401, were granted April 26, 1810, on-ihe invention of Honghton, Moore, & Rogers, for an improved molded shoeshank. v

The present invention has particular reference to the munnfi eture of such patent-ed shanks, the. inven tion consisting in the general combination of mechnn; ism for cutting the shnnlcforming material into blanks, and shaping, such blanks in suitable molds, and in specific details of construction and arrangement of. the parts for cfi'eeting the successive operations in the formation of the molded shanks.

. The drawing represents a machine embodying my improvements.

A shows a side elevation of the machine.

B, an opposite-side elevation.

I G, a vertical longitudinal section. D, an'cnd view.

(i denotes a suitable had, upon which are erected uprights, b, for supporting the operative mechanism.

c d denote two rolls, around which travels an endless belt or apron, e, by which the material, in sheetform or strips, is fed to -the action ofa guillotine knife, fi-thematerial being of a width corresponding to the length of the shanks to be molded.

The knife f is attached to a lever, g, and operates in connection with a bed-knife or table, 71, the top'of which is one. line with the top of the apron e.

The lever g is fulcrumed at one end, as seen at -i, and its opposite end is connected, bya link, k to another lover, I, fulcrnmed at m; and connected at its opposite end, by a pitnmn, n, with acrank-pin, 0, me tending ironi a pulley, l), on the end of a cam-0r wiper-shalt, 4 connected, by a cross-belt, r, with a pulfey, s, on a dri\'ing-shal"t, i'..

-'lhe shall; a of thc front roll (1 has on one end a mtchct-whecl,:, to which an ii'itcrmittent rotative' movement is imparted, as follows:

On the. shaft u isa loose rocker-arm, '2', to the outer end of which is jointed a pawl, 21:, that engages with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel, the-pawl being held to the periphery ot" the wheel by a suitable spring.

- The pawl-arm r is connected to a crank-pin, a, of the pulley 1) bya link, 3 and at each rotation of the the movements of the belt and knife are so timed that when the knife is rising the-belt is travelingforward with theshank-forming strip, carrying the end of the strip over the bed Itand under and beyond the blade f, the extent of each movement of the belt being snflicicnt,and just snificient, to project beyond the blade f the length of material requisite to formv one shank. I

To hold the projected and ofthe material in horizontal position while being out, or to prevent it from. tipping over, I employ .a littenc, op'eiated as follows:

- The lower end of the litter is jointcd'to a cross bar, I)", which is hiriged at .one end to the frame I),

and projects at its other end through a. guide-slot, 0*,"

in the opposite upright 11 of the frame, the end project-iug through the slot resting in a heeled, the shank c of which extends. upward, and is bent over at top, and rests upon a peripheral cam, f, of aeainwhecl, g, fixed on the end of the wiper-shaft q. As

the knifc-blade begins to descend the cam f raises the lifter a and brings its top into position to sup port the blank as it: is severed from the strip and prevent its being bent under by the. cutter, the concentric surface of the cam holding the lifter stationary during the cutting operation.

As soon as the blank is cut off the lifter is released, and is thrown down by a suitable spring, leaving the blank upon an inclined table or receiving-block, 7c, from whence it is Iem'oved to the die or mold in which it is to'be shaped.

The die apparatus is constructed as follows;

v i" denotes a rotary die-cylinder, in the cylindrical snrfiioe of which is a series of recesses, 70, for receiving the molds I, each mold being sunk in its recess, and held in place by a suitable screw, m The hollow surface or matrix of the mold corresponds in shape to the irregular surface to be given to the under surface of the shank, while the whole length of the upper edge is in one plane, so that it will be met bya flat surfiioecoming against-the open face of the mold Over themold is a drop-hammer, operated as follows:

.The hammer'n is fixed upon the lower ends of two rods, 0, that run through guide-holes in cross-beams,

The rods are connected by a cross-head, qflagainst which a wiper, r, (on the wiper-shaft 4,) acts to lift the hammer.

The die-cylinder is hung in the frame by two gnugeons, on the end of one-of which is aratchet-whecl, s, through which anintermittent rotative movement is imparted .to the cylinder, as follows:

A pawl, l", engaging with the ratchet, is hung upon the end of an arm, a, pivoted at c, and connected near its front end, by a link, w to a wrist-pin on the cam-wheel g of the 'wipeisshaft. As the shaft, in rotating, causes the wiper to lift the hammer, the movement of the cam-wheel g1 raises the link to and arm n, and causes the pawl to turnthe cylinder at distance equal to the distance between the center-line of two adjacent dies, bringing the die coming upper most directly under the hammer, and so that the upper edge of the mold or die is in a horizontal plane. As the die reaches this position,.thc ibrwardmovement, of the pawl ceases, and the wiper passes the cross-head g and lets the hammer drop upo the die.

The shanh-formil'ig blank is fed from the receiver into the mold by a finger, n

The fingeris attached to a rocker-shalt, y, upon one endof which is aweighted arm, 2 which, when held in horizontal position, retains the finger in position just behind the lifter a, and which, when released from such horizontal position, is thrown down by the weight, and turns the shaft and drives the finger out, the linger lying close to the surface of the table It, and pushing from such table the blank lying upon it, carrying the blank directly into the open mold adjacent to the table and in line with the finger.

The finger is thrown forward just after the knifeblade'has severed the blank,'and as the blade begins to rise; and the arm z, at its descent, drops upon a pinpr roll, a, on the inner side of the knife-operating-lever -Z, and the rise'of the lever thus causes the arm to be lifted, and the finger to be thereby moved back.

As the arm reaches its horizontal or normal position, a latch, '1), falls in front of a pin, 0, projecting .from the arm, and locks the arm in position.

\Vheu the knife next descends ahook d )ressed in i a. by a suitable spring, passes under a pro ection, e, on

the. side of the latch I), so that, when'the knife next begins to rise, the hook raises the latch and releases the pin 0, when the weighted arm again falls and drives the finger forward to throw the blank into the adjacent mold.

The progressive operation of the machine is as follows:

As the driving-shalt rotates, and while .the uppei" part of the belt moves tbrward, to carry the end of the strip laid upon it under the knife, said knife rises, to let such end pass through. As the knife begins to descend, the feed-beltstops, and the knife severs the black from the end of the strip, the lifter a rising to support the cut-off piece. \Vhile the knife is descending the wiper raises the hammer, and the die-cylinder is rotated suiiiciently to bring the lastehargedmold under the hammer; and just as the knife completes its descent the cylinder stops, and the hammer is released and falls upon the material in the mold, compressing it into shape.

The stopping of thecylindcr also brings the next empty mold into position to be filled, and just after the knife severs the blank, and the blank falls upon the table h, the finger x is thrown forward and pushcsthe blank over the table into the ripen mold. As the cylinder revolves, and when each charged mold comes face downward, the molded shank drops from the mold, andi's'removerl to dry. i

To cause the superfluous material to be severed from theformed shank, I make each mold witha hammer-'face'is cut off without injury to the hammer; and to preserve 'the edge from being battered, I leave projections, g, flush with the edge, these projections receiving the main force of. the blow, and guarding the edge.

By combining the series of dies -'in the periphery of a cylinder with a mechanism for feeding a blank into each mold as the cylinder turns, and a'hammer operating against each charged mold as it comes uppermost, the shanks can be very rapidlymauufacerations that no skill is required to manufacture the shanks, supplying the belt with material, and re moving the formed shanks bcing'all that is necessary.

The extent-of feed movement of material to the action ofthe cutter requires to be varied in accord aucc with the size of shanks to be molded, or the thickness of the material being fed; and to provide for such variation I use the following mechanism connected with the ratchet-aud-pawl mechanism that effects the movement of the feed-rolls.

The link yis made with'a long slot, f through which extends the pin 9 that connects the link with the pawharm 1..

upon the bed-plate, and in this post is a vertical se; ries of holes, 4,, to receive a pin, It.

the-linky is drawn forward, the pawlarm' is drawn forward by the link as soon as the end of the slot reaches the pin. When the link is thrown back, the pawl goes with it, (being weighted or drawn down. by a suitable w'eight,) until 'the arm reaches and rests upon the pin It, andthe extent of downward movethe pawl engages with the ratchet-wheel to feed it at the next forward movement of the link, is, of course, determined by the position of the pin, ort-he particular hole of the series through which the pin may project, as will be readily understood.

The drop-hammer is made of cast iron, and, as the face, if of cast-iron, soon batters by contactwith thev molds,"I form the face of a piece of sheetsteel, Z, which is so applied that it may be easily detached endures well for months, whereas a cast-iron face hecomes irreparably battered in one or two days.

' The. face of the hammer may be converted into steel, but I prefer to use the steel plate.

iron, and the dies may beof cast-iron or of gun-metal, or other hard composition.

I claim- 1. In amachineibr making shoe-shanks, the combination, witha shank-molding mechanism, of an in-' termittently-moving feed-apron and a cutting or severing mechanism, arranged, to operate substantially as described 2. In combination with the cutting or severing substantially'as described.

3. The combination with a rbtating mold-cylinder, of the inclined table 71?, for directing the blank to the open mold, substantially as described.

4. In combination with the inclined table h, the linger w, for transferring the blank from the table to the mold,substantially as described.

5. In a machinefor molding shoe-shanks, an intermittcntly-rotating mold-cylhnler and a drop-hamn'dr,| arranged to operate together, substantially as escribed.

6 he die or mom, made with the blunt edge 1* scribed.

and the guards a, substantially as'shown and deblunt edge, f,-by which the material struck by the tured, and the machine is so far automatic in its op-- At the side of this pawl-arm is a post, It, elected The; pin 9 slides slooscly in the slot if, and, when.

ment of the pawl, and'the consequent point at which v and replaced, such construction insuring a face that- The die-cylinder is preferably, constructed of castmechanism, the lifter a", for supporting the blank,

7. The combination of :i mechanism for feeding of the blankforming material substantially as dethe strip to the cutting or severing mechanism, mechscribed;

anism for cutting the sti ip into blanks, and meehan- 10. In combination with the dies, substantially ism for molding the bianksjnto shanks, substantially such as iiescribed, 2i drop-hammer, provided with a as described. steel facing, substantially as described.

8. In a machine for molding shoe-shanks, a (lie- Executed August 20, A, D; 1870. cylinder, having a series'of peripheral dies, adapted STEPHENMOORE. for molding the :sha-nks, each fastened in the surface 0f the cylinder, substantially as described. 5 Witnesses: I r 9. In combination with a. machine for molding FRAMES GQULD, shoe-shanks, the mechanism for varying the feed J. B. GB SBY. 

